Musings by me, myself and occasionally I. Be prepared for anything from sport to current affairs, politics to just real life. I hope you enjoy and thank you in advance for reading

Saturday, 4 February 2017

Dear Arsene.....

THE ESTEEMED John Cross tells us in the Daily Mirror you want
to ‘feel loved’ before you sign a new two year deal, a contract you will once
again observe to the day I’m sure.

All true Gooners do love you Arsene, you are the greatest
modern-day Arsenal manager and we have memories to cherish until our dying
days. The first double including that phenomenal run to haul Manchester United’s
12 point lead in and of course 2002 when we won it in their backyard.

None of us will ever forget 2003/4, the unbeaten season
during which you and the players delivered the best football I have ever seen
from an Arsenal team.

Those were seasons where we felt everyone was aiming high,
pushing each other to win, win and win again. Since then I suspect many Gooners
including myself feel an attitude of ‘that’ll do’ is the message, much of it
coming from you.

We understand moving home was a nightmare financially and
meant we had to sell the best players, but please remember before the move us
fans were told it wouldn’t affect the team.

We do appreciate your loyalty and understand others wanted
to prize you away, but that doesn’t mean we will just accept things.

And we do appreciate Champions League football every year
Arsene and the stadium you enabled to be built. Personally if the Emirates deal
ever ends I would be happy for us to play at the AW Stadium

But too often in the Champions League we end up throwing it
away against sides we should beat or rest players in the group stages and end
up with a harder draw in the knockout phases.

Arsene, we also pay some of the highest ticket prices in the
country so it’s massively galling to see our team get so close and throw things
away.

The Carling Cup final in 2008, we should have beaten
Birmingham out of sight yet we went into the game thinking it was won already.
AC Milan were disposed of in the Champions League 3-0 at our place, just a
shame we were 4-0 down from the first game!

Put simply, when the pressure is on, a lot of us now think
an Arsenal team under you cannot handle it.

Last year we beat Manchester City at the Emirates to go top
of the league at Christmas. We then won just two out of the next seven league
games and went a month without a victory.

We don’t understand Arsene how Leicester, a team which was
all but relegated the Christmas before, held it all together to win the league.
A team we beat home and away.

We struggle to understand how the current very talented team
isn’t running away with the league like Chelsea – under a manager in his first
season in English football.

And Arsene, we don’t like the fact them lot down the road
seem to be building a pretty decent team!

We have a huge, beautiful stadium, a cracking team which you
have assembled but then we lose to Watford, go 3-0 down to Bournemouth and inch
past Preston North End.

We are football fans Arsene, we are forever asking ourselves
‘Would this happen to Man United, Chelsea etc’ and nine times out of 10 it
wouldn’t.

That’s why we are frustrated and yes angry with things. We don’t
want ‘that’ll do’ mentality, we want the Arsenal of old, the flourishing
football with an insane desire to win trophies.

You are your own man and make your own decisions Arsene and
we will always respect that.

If this is the end though, please be assured all true
Gooners, even your fiercest critics will stand and applaud as you leave and
thank you for taking a football club in a right state when you arrived in 1996
and putting us among Europe’s elite.

We do love you Arsene, but we love Arsenal Football Club as
well. It was here before us and it will outlast us all too.